Toronto Oasis, Secular Community

Sunday October 16th – [Online] The Legacy of Colonialism and Slavery

This will be an online Zoom meeting. Please RSVP on our Meetup for this event to get access to the Zoom link. See our online meeting instructions at: https://torontooasis.org/online-meeting-instructions

Our program will run from 11 am to 12:30 pm and you can join in to the meeting starting at 10:45 am for our open social. Followed by an extended discussion for a half hour. Volunteers please join by 10:30 am.

We will be watching and then discussing two videos featuring Kris Manjapra, Professor of History at Tufts University, and author of the book: Black Ghost of Empire: The Long Death of Slavery and the Failure of Emancipation. The topic and videos will be introduced by Toronto Oasis participant Elka Enola.

This Sunday, we will be featuring live music! Our guest musician will be Wesley Blondin-Doan, whose stage name is Kid Grit. Kid Grit’s folk songs are quiet and pensive reflections of a life lived. From the depths of isolation possible in a digital age, to the heights of exaltation, living and growing up in nature. His music travels through the processes of life and how we heal, through gentle whisperings, swelling warm harmonies, and sometimes painful personal admissions – attempting to find peace and truth in the smallest of things.

Please RSVP on meetup to get access to the Zoom link:

https://www.meetup.com/toronto-oasis/events/rpgzssydcnbvb/

Looking forward to seeing familiar faces and perhaps some new ones!

Sun October 9th – [Online] The White Savior Trope

We will be watching and then discussing a YouTube video that explains the white savior trope, the dangers of this type of narrative and how we can shift our narratives and conversations to become more antiracist. The topic and video will be introduced by Toronto Oasis participant Helen Lenskyj, Professor Emerita, University of Toronto, where she taught sociology.

Please RSVP on meetup to get access to the Zoom link:

https://www.meetup.com/toronto-oasis/events/rpgzssydcnbmb/

Looking forward to seeing familiar faces and perhaps some new ones!

Sun October 2nd – [Online] Secular Perspectives

We will be watching and then discussing two videos by Tim Minchin, an Australian comedian, actor, writer, musician, poet, composer, and songwriter. The topic and videos will be introduced by Toronto Oasis participant Catherine Francis.

Please RSVP on meetup to get access to the Zoom link:

https://www.meetup.com/toronto-oasis/events/rpgzssydcnbdb/

Looking forward to seeing familiar faces and perhaps some new ones!

Sun September 25th – [Online] Modern Love

We will be watching and then discussing a TED talk by Helen Fisher, a very noted anthropologist of love & sex, brain scientist, and author of the book “Anatomy of Love”. The video was selected, and will be introduced by Toronto Oasis organizer Dan Cooperstock.

Please RSVP on meetup to get access to the Zoom link:

https://www.meetup.com/toronto-oasis/events/rpgzssydcmbhc/

Looking forward to seeing familiar faces and perhaps some new ones!

Sunday September 18th – [Online] Understanding Homelessness

We will be watching and then discussing a September 2020 TEDx talk by Dr. Marisa Zapata, an associate professor of land-use planning at Portland State University and director of PSU’s Homelessness Research & Action Collaborative. The video was selected, and will be introduced by Toronto Oasis organizer Tania Akon.

Please RSVP on meetup to get access to the Zoom link:

https://www.meetup.com/toronto-oasis/events/288137688/

Looking forward to seeing familiar faces and perhaps some new ones!

Sun September 11th – [Online] How Trees Talk to Each Other

We will be watching and then discussing a TED talk by Suzanne Simard, a Canadian scientist and professor in the Department of Forest and Conservation Sciences at the University of British Columbia. The video will be introduced by Toronto Oasis participant Tanya Long.

Also, this Sunday we will be having live music! Our guest musician will be William Beauvais. William has been teaching, performing, composing, recording and improvising music for over 40 years. He has written music for harpist Sharlene Wallace, baritone Doug MacNaughton and has performed with New Music Concerts, and Tapestry New Opera. You can check out William Beauvais’ music here: https://soundcloud.com/william-beauvais

Please RSVP on meetup to get access to the Zoom link:

https://www.meetup.com/toronto-oasis/events/287986197/

Looking forward to seeing familiar faces and perhaps some new ones!

This meeting’s music segment was recorded: GMT20220911-152949_Recording_640x360.mp4

Sun September 4th – [Online] The Indus Valley: An Ancient Society That Worked

As we hear distressing news from around the world, it’s worth reminding ourselves of times and places with human beings did come close to building a workable and just society for everyone.

The Indus Valley civilization flourished from 2500 – 2000 BC, and was widely thought the most advanced society in the world at the time. There is little evidence of warfare or poverty in their ruins. How did they do it?

Our featured speaker on this topic will be Dr. Mark Reimers.

Dr. Reimers has worked at the US National Institutes of Health, the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, and at the Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics in Richmond, and now does research and teaches at Michigan State University. His broader aim is to ground our understanding of feeling and thought in the facts of biology.

Dr. Reimers was the leader of the Richmond Humanists in Virginia for five years, and now leads the UU Forum in Lansing, and speaks frequently at humanist and science outreach events in Michigan.

Please RSVP on meetup to get access to the Zoom link:

https://www.meetup.com/toronto-oasis/events/rpgzssydcmbgb/

Looking forward to seeing familiar faces and perhaps some new ones!

This meeting has been recorded: GMT20220904-153529_Recording_1920x1080.mp4

Sun August 28th – [Online] The Four Phases of Retirement

We will be watching and then discussing a TEDx talk by Dr. Riley Moynes. The video will be introduced by Toronto Oasis organizer Dan Cooperstock.

Dr. Riley Moynes is a former educator, founder of a wealth management firm and writer on the topic, a speaker, and author. His book “The Four Phases of Retirement” is the basis of this TEDx talk.

Please RSVP on meetup to get access to the Zoom link:

https://www.meetup.com/toronto-oasis/events/rpgzssydclblc/

Looking forward to seeing familiar faces and perhaps some new ones!

Sun August 21st – [Online] Finding Commonality through Grief and Loss

We will be watching and then discussing a YouTube video by Rebecca Soffer, cofounder of Modern Loss, a platform for sharing honest and heartfelt stories about life after the death of a loved one. The video will be introduced by Toronto Oasis volunteer Roya Yeganeh.

We will also be featuring some live music! Our guest musicians will be the Dovercourt Park Jazz Trio consisting of saxophonist Wally Brooker, bassist Paul O-Connell and drummer David Benitez. They are a trio of jazz musicians who meet every Sunday morning at Dovercourt Park to jam. We will be featuring a special sneak peak into this weekly session via our music director Cassie Norton who will be taking care of sound and video.

Please RSVP on meetup to get access to the Zoom link:

https://www.meetup.com/toronto-oasis/events/rpgzssydclbcc/

Looking forward to seeing familiar faces and perhaps some new ones!

Sun August 14th – [Online] Tackling Poverty with Patient Capitalism

We will be watching and then discussing a TED talk by Jacqueline Novogratz, founder and CEO of Acumen, a non-profit hedge fund that invests in start-ups of local entrepreneurs that fight poverty in very poor countries. The video will be introduced by Toronto Oasis volunteer Paul Kaplan.

Please RSVP on meetup to get access to the Zoom link:

https://www.meetup.com/toronto-oasis/events/287405887/

Looking forward to seeing familiar faces and perhaps some new ones!